Limits of the Pardoning Power under the Indian Constitution

Limits of the Pardoning Power under the Indian Constitution

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Volume 2 Issue 2 ()

The President’s power of Pardon is granted, limited and controlled by the Constitution, both expressly and impliedly. The sweep of this power therefore has to be gauged with the Constitutional Scheme in mind, and not by repeated references to the power enjoyed by the British Crown. This paper seeks to examine several issues determining the scope of the pardoning power of the President under the Indian Constitution, including the stage at which it can be exercised, the offences which fall within its reach, the procedure and judicial review, and the effect of a pardon on the guilt of the offender, and concludes that even though the power of Pardon has survived through the ages, its scope is limited by the axioms of modern political philosophy such as Separation of Powers and Supremacy of the Constitution.

Cite as: Rohan Sahai, Limits of the Pardoning Power under the Indian Constitution, 2 NUJS L. Rev. 283 (2009)